By
Darren Gilbert
The truth about PR is that
it’s an industry filled with tight deadlines and hardworking individuals. There
is no room for dawdling and laziness.
Success doesn’t only happen
between 9:00 and 17:00
From
the outside, success looks great. There are many accolades and pats-on-the-back
involved. It’s a great feeling. It’s also undoubtedly something that everyone
craves. However, if you want it, you need to be willing to put in the work. Often,
success means working past 17:00 during the week and on weekends.
“PR these days means working long,” says Pippa
Holland, Group Account Director at Ogilvy & Mather Cape Town and winner of the 2015 PRISMs’ PR Professional of the Year. “[It means] keeping track of trends
and consumer conversation over the weekends and during holidays to find the
best opportunities to intercept conversation and create buzz for your clients.”
The obvious outcome is that your phone will most
probably become your best friend. Holland agrees: “I always have my phone with
me, full charged, so I can log in and deal with anything work related no matter
when.”
Pitching is an art that you
must learn quickly
The
relationship between PR professionals and journalists is well documented. It’s
often portrayed as tense and uncomfortable. While this is not always true, it
is the case if as a PR professional you pitch a story to the wrong journalist.
It’s a truth Amber April, an account executive for Jam Media, quickly came to
realise.
“As an
intern last year, I’d often be shocked at the blunt, sarcastic emails I would
get in response to an email I had deemed quite relative to [a journalist’s]
beat,” says April. “Over time, I've learnt to
take blunt calls and emails with a pinch of salt. I have also learnt to be more
attentive in my pitching.”
Pitching is an art. “As
much as you can, make sure that the person you are pitching to, inviting, or
calling, is the journalist in line with your story,” says April.
PR isn’t for sissies
Competition is everywhere.
From school to university to the workplace, it is all around us. This is
especially true for an industry like PR. After all, it’s an industry that is
built on competing for coverage. Just because you have a PR degree doesn’t mean
you will automatically walk into a job.
“Your internships sometimes turn into fantastic job
opportunities, but don’t bank on it,” writes
Jenn Clark, founder of JC PR and Design. “For instance, the company I completed
my internship with shut down its marketing and PR department due to budget cuts
and excessive company changes.”
“It is never too early to begin
networking, finding a mentor and preparing for your future calling in PR,” adds
Clark. Just keep in mind that the most successful people in PR are often those
who are driven to compete. The
PR industry is not for sissies.
What are your thoughts? Do
you know of any truths that people don’t realise about PR? Tell us below.